Coronation Street icon Liz Dawn talks recent heart attack

Former Coronation Street actress Liz Dawn has spoken of her ‘shock’ at her recent heart attack.

Talking about her recent health scare whilst on holiday in Spain, the Corrie icon admitted on ITV’s This Morning that she thought her time was up.

It was a shock… I thought I was on my way out you know. I thought ‘that’s it’ because I’d had lung trouble for twenty years really so when they said I’d had a heart attack I thought ‘oh my God’…

And then when I went to have the operation, I was terrified. I was frightened to death…. I never thought I’d have heart trouble, but thank God I went to hospital and the surgeon was fantastic and I thought I must tell people ‘that’s its not that bad’…

Explaining about and revealing her scar where the recent pacemaker operation took place, Liz told presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that she had her pacemaker fitted only three weeks ago, urging viewers not to be afraid to get one if they need it and to just ‘get it done’.

I feel a lot lot better. And at least I now know what it was – I just thought I was going to die. I thought my lungs had got that bad…

From 1974 to 2008 Liz played loudmouth Vera Duckworth, joined from 1979 onwards by actor Bill Tarmey as on-screen hubby Jack. Vera died in the series, but made a return in 2010 as a ‘vision’ for Jack as part of his farewell scenes. Bill died last year.

Liz fondly talked of Bill and how they looked after each other while working on the Manchester-based soap, noting:

We looked after each other, it’s like you two, it’s a team, and eventually you can read each others minds…

I just can’t believe how lucky I am to get through things and being able to afford a cruise! And 34 years on the cobbles with stone cladding – I loved it you know… and tourists used to pinch bits!

She went on to explain how she is currently carrying out Bill’s wish to help his son Carl who has a brain tumour.

Bill tried as hard as he could to raise money for the research, and he said to me ‘Liz, if owt ever happens to me, will you do this…’ so now I’m well – I’m not going to do any running – but I am going to try and raise money.